This invention relates to the well known Scottish musical instrument commonly called Bagpipese. Highland bagpipes create a distinctive sound through the employment of an inflated bag which may be used to controllably supply air through, typically, three pipes or drones. The instrument is designed for outdoor use and accordingly produces sound at high volume.
A disadvantage of the instrument, however, is that it generally lacks versatility in volume control, rendering it unsuitable for use indoors. This retards the opportunity of practicing. While it is possible to acquire smaller bagpipes suitable for indoor use, the cost of purchasing a second instrument is undesirable and even, in some cases; prohibitive.
It is recognised in the present invention that it would be of considerable advantage if a highland bagpipe could be adjusted or adapted to be suitable, interchangeably, for both indoor and outdoor use. In this specification references to indoor use will imply that the instrument is adapted to perform or function at a relatively lower volume than that typical of a highland bagpipe.
The problem associated with conventional bagpipes is that they are costly to produce in known materials, such as wood. Furthermore, known bagpipes are large and difficult to manoeuvre. It is difficult and expensive to make smaller practise-pipes from known materials.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a drone for use with a bagpipe, the drone comprising a means for connection with a plug stock on the bagpipe, the means also being connected with tubing made wholly or partly from metal.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a set of bagpipes with two sets of interchangeable pipes or drones, said second set comprising of tubing, some or all of which is metallic.
The second set of drones may comprise of tubing of substantially smaller diameter than tubing associated with the first set of drones.
Preferably the metal is brass.
Optionally, some of the tubing is made from a plastics material. The tubing may be partially coated with heat-shrunk rubber.
Preferably the means is a conically shaped bunge, optionally made from a plastics or cork like material.
Preferably, a reed is attached to the bunge on the opposite side of said tubing. The reed may be a single or double reed, for example.
The tubing may comprise a plurality of overlapping aligned sections moveable in an axial direction relative to each other. The relative movement may be enabled by a sliding fit or a threaded joint between the adjacent sections.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a drone in accordance with the invention with an attached reed;
FIG. 2 is a front view of a set of bagpipes with two sets of interchangeable drones in accordance with the present invention, and;
FIG. 2a is a front view of a set of bagpipes with a second set of drones in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2b is a front view of a first set of drones which may be interchanged with the second set of drones show in FIG. 2a in accordance with the present invention;
FIGS. 2a and 2b show a set of bagpipes with two sets of interchangeable drones, the first set of drones 11 being a conventional set (as illustrated in FIG. 2b) and a second set comprising drones 10 (as illustrated in FIG. 2a) described above.
FIG. 3 is a side view of a drone in accordance with the invention and a reed.